Parenthood. It’s glorious and laborious. It’s oh-so-wonderfully meaningful yet pull-your-hair-out challenging. If you’re a parent of young children and babies, you’re struggling for adequate sleep and other basic needs. Parents of older children and adolescents–maybe you’re struggling for balance, a stress-free household, and sanity. At one point, I had three kids all under five years old. We were poor back then while my now ex-husband was finishing his medical residency, then just starting out in his medical practice. He worked long hours and there was no money for sitters, and with no family members in sight. Since I lost my mother at age seven, I made a promise to be there for my kids. I did my best to be present for them each and every day. And I did it–above and beyond. Sometimes I would begin to feel burnt out because you can only keep that up for so long.
Most of the time, when I started feeling burned out from being overwhelmed, I would consciously make a choice to refuel. Exercise helped. So did the things listed below. But, how about you? Are there times when you need a break, where you feel like you could burst at the seams? (if you need some inspiration for keeping your kids busy and creating lots of great memories this summer, sign up for my newsletter and download my free report here: 10 Ways to Have More Fun with Your Family this Summer).
Feeling burnt out? How do you regroup and center yourself?
To bring your best self into the hardest and most important job you’ll ever do, you’ll need to put your own needs ahead of others on a regular basis. That’s not selfish, it’s life-enhancing. Even if this means you can only do this for a few minutes a day. You can’t run a car without fuel.
[Tweet “Like a car out of gas, you won’t get very far if you’re completely drained. “]
If you’re depleted, your family pays the price and so do you.
As women, we’re trained to put others’ needs ahead of our own. We’re nurturers at heart. If you aren’t spending some time on rest, relaxation, and renewal on a regular basis, it is not a question of if, but when you’ll get burnt out. These 3 R’s don’t have to take a long time–try starting to squeeze in self-care for just 5 minutes.
Ideas to help you rest, relax, and renew:
- Go out in nature.
- Take up a new hobby–engage yourself in something new. You can even find one to involve some or all of your family in it.
- Take a power nap.
- Get up half-hour before everyone else.
- Exercise.
- Meditate.
- Find your inspiration. Make a list of what inspires you, and immerse yourself in one of the things on the list.
- Connect with like-minded others–friends or family members.
- Do something fun that you’ve been meaning to try.
- Play.
- Journal about what makes you grateful to be alive. Gratitude helps you focus on the positive.
- See a doctor or mental health clinician if you think you may be depressed. They can help rule out other causes like thyroid issues as well.
- Trade other moms for babysitting time so you can get a break, then they can too.
If you’re a busy mom, how do you find time to rest, relax, and renew? Share the love and leave a comment below (moms really need to hear other mom’s advice!).
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My passion is to enrich people’s lives by helping them create extraordinary relationships. I am a certified life coach, have a Master’s degree in psychology, and am a Marriage and Family Therapy Candidate. I am the author of Attract Your Soul Mate: A Simple Guide to Finding the Love of Your Life Using the Law of Attraction and Other Spiritual Methods (BRAND NEW!), Transforming Divorce, the Transforming Divorce Workbook, and co-author (with my husband Don Nenninger) of The Secrets of Loving Relationships, and The Art and Science of Parenting: How to Act When Your Kid’s Acting Out.